Halo 3 Beta Launch, er I mean Crackdown is Avalible

So its February 20th and as many many rabid Halo fans know, Crackdown is now available at all major stores. Having played the Xbox Live Demo very briefly, I am almost sad that Microsoft tied in the Halo 3 Beta with Crackdown because the game is quite fun. You play a genetically altered super cop (Deus Ex anyone?) who's mission is to take back a city overrun by gangs. It is a free roam game which allows players to tackle on missions in any order. After personally suffering through both Halo 3 Beta registration options, this is the easiest way to participate in the beta as long as you're willing to shell out 60 smackeroos. Even though I managed to make it through the hoops by continually refreshing my browser during the second round of registrations for the beta, I am probably going to pick up Crackdown. Reviews to come once I get around to getting the game or when Falcon decides to put his copy down.

Samsung SyncMaster 941BW

My Samsung SyncMaster 941BW arrived today and replaces a standard 17in panel. Put next to my old Samsung 940BW the two are identical except for a slightly wider bezel on the 941 (its barely noticeable unless you're me). with no difference in monitor heights and windows lining up when they span the two monitors, my OCD is now sated. In all seriousness, at $179 (after rebate) from Newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001088, it's quite a steal. Widescreen 19 inch monitors don't offer the same amount of area as a standard 19in but it does allow me to put more windows side by side as well as enjoy widescreen dvds and video. The first thing I adjusted was the brightness on my monitor, it is blindingly bright if you leave it on the factory settings. The native resolution of the monitors are 1440x900 and Samsung is nice enough to ship both a DVI and VGA cable, good to see they don't skimp on their products. If you're in the market for a cheap new monitor give the 941bw a consideration. As it is not a higher end model with lots of extra features there are no USB ports, there is no height adjustment, and you cannot swivel the screen 90 degrees. Finally, the lcd panel does sit a bit low, something that should be considered before purchasing.

**I believe (just to the best of my understanding) the 941BW is merely the 940BW with a bezel that is a teensy bit wider. The screen specs are the same and height/width and stand are exactly the same otherwise. Buy whichever one is cheaper if you're shopping around.**

How to Fix Your Broken 4G iPod

Browsing the internet I have discovered that there are a few iPod owners who have been fixing their broken iPods with a rather simple solution. A few months ago my iPod locked up and gave me the sad error face reminiscent of the icon you get on a Mac unable to bootup. After trying to fix it by using the restore function in iTunes as well as the iPod soft, I was quite peeved at the prospect of shelling out another 300 dollars or so dollars for a new one. Deciding I didn't really use my iPod enough to justify buying another one I angrily whacked my iPod against my desk a few times in frustration. After such loving care, the screen glowed and came to life proudly displaying the apple logo on the screen. Since this incident my drive doesn't make any weird whirring sounds and has given me no problems. The lesson to be learned is that if your iPod is no longer under warranty, you might as well give a good whack before spending any money on it. It may very well fix whatever is ailing your iPod.

**DISCLAIMER** If you break your iPod or crack the screen by whacking it too hard, I bear no responsibility as this is just a last ditch suggestion. Obviously you should use your warranty if it is still in effect.

Wii Classic Controller

So I've finally found a classic controller for the Wii and downloaded Super Mario World and Mario for NES. Playing NES games with the Wiimote feels very familiar, even though the controller is slightly longer and the buttons are slightly smaller compared to the original NES gamepad. The same can be said of the classic controller, everything is a bit smaller than a SNES controller but it remains very responsive. After trying to play Super Mario World with a game cube controller I recommend that you shell out the 19.99 and just get a classic controller. My only gripe about the set up is that like the Nunchuck, the controller plugs into the Wiimote, but it is a small price to pay to better enjoy Nintendo's Virtual Console.

iPhone? No Thanks

As my current mobile phone contract winds down, I have started a casual search for a new mobile carrier. With all the hoopla regarding the iPhone deal with Cingular/At&t it was on my radar. Priced at around $500 dollars Apple can forget about my business. I am quite content with my iPod and do not see a need to have a cell phone that's also an mp3 player. For 500 dollars I might as well get myself a swanky phone upgrade with a carrier and buy myself an iPod nano while treating my friends out to a crazy night on the town. For 100-200 dollars you can get a pretty nifty cell that takes low quality pictures, functions well as a phone, and looks very sleek. I predict that the iPhone will not move in high numbers. Spoiled rich kids and ubertechnophiles will run to Cingular on launch day but typical consumers as well as businesses will stay away. Apple is betting on style over function which is a dangerous game with mobile phones. I want my phone to work. I want to be able to dial numbers without looking and if I am going to spend over 300 dollars I want my phone to sync with my e-mail while allowing me to send quick responses. I can not imagine the frustrations that will be experienced by those who attempt to write text messages or emails that are longer than a few abbreviations unless apple has an innovative new entry method. So while I may be slightly jealous of the trendy folks chatting on their iPhones later in the year, my practical side won't mind.

Vista Sales Lower Than Expected

In what comes as a complete shock, NPD reported that first week retail sales of Windows Vista were almost 60% lower than the first week retail sales of Windows XP back in 2001. Despite the millions Microsoft has dumped into a marketing campaign for Vista, it's been a while since they've released a product that had so few compelling new features.

I guess the problem is that Windows XP was just too good. Granted, XP has had it's problems, various security flaws, etc but when it comes down to it, XP is a good OS. By comparison to what was available previously, namely windows 98, XP was amazing. Now Vista has come along and Microsoft is trying in vain to convince consumers that it is worth another couple hundred dollars to upgrade. This was a much easier argument to make for XP. Users of Windows 95/98 knew the operating system was crap, you could see it on a daily basis. Most users were very familiar with the Blue Screen of Death, which had a nasty habit of appearing when you were almost done writing a long document that you hadn't saved yet. The promise of increased stability and productivity that XP offered made it an easy sell.

Making and argument for upgrading to Vista is much more of a challenge. Most computer users, who use their computer for email, Office, maybe some photoshop, etc could go on using XP for years without a problem. So why should they upgrade to Vista? Really, the answer is that they shouldn't. The new hardware requirements mean that Vista won't run on half the computers anyway and XP does it's job. Upgrading to Vista is just an unnecessary headache, especially since many driver and software compatibility issues still remain.

That is not to say that Vista is a failed product. Everyone will eventually end up running Vista, it will just take many more years than the execs at Microsoft have forecasted. Retail sales of Vista will likely remain slow for a while with very few upgrades and most of the sales coming from copies purchased with a new PC. Corporations are where most of Vista's sales will come from for the foreseeable future. Many IT departments will find the new security features available in Vista to be attractive to help protect their networks form viruses and such. As IT departments start switching their companies over, users will start to become more accustomed to Vista and will see more of a reason to switch to Vista on their home machines, or more likely purchase a new computer with Vista.

Future sales of Vista are going to be strongly linked to new hardware sales. Most individuals won't bother upgrading their existing computers and many corporations are likely to pass until their next upgrade cycle. As a result, look for Vista sales to be sluggish for at least the next couple of quarters.